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Series 8: 13. Zurich
In Zurich, Michael Portillo has a brush with the absurd in the anarchic paintings and artistic haunts of the Dadaists, a group of artists who found refuge in the city during the First World War.\n\nHe visits the impressive Grossmunster Church to find out about the rebellious pastor at the centre of the Swiss Reformation and studies the 500-year-old Froschauer Bible, the earliest German-language bible in the world.\n\nA new way of making chocolate is taking hold in the home of confectionery. Michael learns what it takes to be part of the Swiss Bean to Bar movement.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 13. Zurich
In Zurich, Michael Portillo has a brush with the absurd in the anarchic paintings and artistic haunts of the Dadaists, a group of artists who found refuge in the city during the ...
22-08-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 12. Sedrun To Schwyz
Michael Portillo ventures into the bowels of an immense hydroelectric dam to learn how the Swiss use their mountainous environment to power the country.\n\nHe winds his way by r ...
15-08-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 11. Maienfeld To The Rhine Gorge
Michael Portillo is transported 150 years back in time to the tiny Alpine village home of Switzerland’s most famous child, Heidi. In Davos, he follows in the footsteps of ...
08-08-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 10. Roskilde To Copenhagen
Michael Portillo concludes his epic rail journey across southern Norway, the Jutland Peninsula and the Danish archipelago. He crosses one of Europe’s epic rail engineering ...
01-08-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 9. Aarhus To Odense
Michael Portillo’s Scandinavian rail adventure reaches Denmark’s second city, Aarhus, an architectural playground with dazzling contemporary buildings set alongside ...
25-07-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 8. Larvik To Holstebro
Michael Portillo’s saga through Norway and Denmark resumes in Larvik on Norway’s southern coast, where he investigates the city’s prized natural resource, a di ...
18-07-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 7. Myrdal To Heddal
Michael Portillo’s rail journey continues on the Bergen Line, heading towards the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Carving through the mountains across some of Europe’s mo ...
11-07-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 6. Bergen To Flåm
Michael Portillo embarks on a Scandinavian railway adventure from the Norwegian port of Bergen to the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Spectacular scenery lines his route along two ...
04-07-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 5. Mostar To Dubrovnik
Michael Portillo is on the last stretch of his railway adventure through the Balkan countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. He enjoys a helter-skelter journey on the hi ...
27-06-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 4. Sarajevo
In Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Michael Portillo traces the fateful last journey in 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, which ended in the ...
20-06-2025
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Great Continental Railway Journeys
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 2
Michael continues his rail journey through Spain with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide. At the Museo Reina Sofia, Michael hears how the bombing of a small town in the Basque reg ...
24-06-2024
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 8
Michael continues his railway journey from Sicily’s capital, Palermo, through the ancient town of Agrigento and the port of Siracusa to Europe’s largest volcano, Mou ...
16-07-2024
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 3. Knin To Split
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure reaches the Dalmatian coastal city of Zadar, once an important Venetian trading hub and still a centre for the production of a Venetia ...
13-06-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 8: 20. Lisieux To Giverny
In the apple orchards of the Calvados region, Michael Portillo discovers how the classic digestif has been distilled since 1865 at the Pierre Huet estate. Over a selection of vi ...
04-04-2025
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 1 - Hungary To Austria
With his 1913 guide, Michael Portillo explores the former Austro-Hungarian empire, domain of the famed Habsburg monarchs, visiting Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg.
12-08-2014
BBC 2
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Series 6 - Reversions: 1. Kiev To Odessa Part 1
With his Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide in hand, Michael Portillo ventures east to a land which a century ago was part of the Russian Empire and today is the independ ...
14-05-2018
BBC 2